Improvement in apparatus for evaporating saccharine juices



lnirnn STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LYMAN P. HARRIS, OF MANSFIELD, OHIO.

IMPROVEMENT lN APPARATUS FOR EVAPORATING SACCHARINE JUIQES.

Spi cification forming part of Letti rs Patent No. 22,648, dated January18, 1859.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, LYMAN P. HARRIS, of thetown of Mansfield, in the county of Richland, in the State of Ohio, haveinvented a new andimproved mode of constructing sugarevaporators for thepurpose of making sugar from thejuice of the Chinese sugar-cane; and Ido hereby declare that the following is a full and exact descriptionthereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to theletters of reference marked thereon.

The nature of my invention consists in pro viding the channeledevaporator and heater with a portable furnace and fire-place, soconstructed as to afford an easy and ready control over the inclinationof the furnace and evaporator, thereby readily controlling the flow ofthe cane-juice along its channels with the fire-place remainingstationary; also of providing the heater and evaporator with one or morevalves and strainers.

To enable others skilled inthe art to make and use my invention, I willproceed to describe its construction and operation.

I construct my fire-place in the form of a square box nearly as deep andlong as the furnace and wide enough to fill the furnace A. Nos. 20 to24. sheet-iron is a convenient material for the fireplace B. Forbracing, supporting the grates, flue, &c., I use strap-iron. No. is aconvenient material. At one end of the fire-place I make an openingsuflicient for receiving the fuel. The other end I cut down to a levelwith the bottom of the flue, which passes over it. For grates I useheavy sheet-iron crimped into a V shape and filled with clay, whichstrengthens and protects them. I construct my stops 0 of light bar iron,being bent at right angles so as to form a square shoulder and anascending point. At

' the head of the fire-place I rivet them to the sides at a sufficientdistance from the bottom to give the desired inclination to the furnace,and far enough from the end to admit of a free and easy movement of thefurnace, which rests upon them.

To hold the furnace in its proper position I apply a bolt to each stop,which passes through the ascending point D and the lower edge of thefurnace 1* into the fire-place beneath the grates. An iron rod may besubstituted for the bolts F. At the foot of the fireplace I apply thestops 0 lower down and nearer the end, having an ascending point, G, anumber of inches in length. To the outside of this cending point I applya spring, H, which ascends to the top of the stop, then bends at a rightangle across the top, is then folded back upon itself, then upward againso as to form a projection, I. At the top of the stop it is again foldedupon itself and brought down to the shoulder, where both ends of thespring are attached to the stop, thus forming a loop, K, through whichpasses a spring, L, which is attached to the handle of the furnace M.

I construct my furnace A in a form similar to the fire-place, of alength and width suflicient to fit over and inclose the fire-place, andof a depth sufficient to rise above the sides of the fire-place whenresting upon the stops of the same. It has also a few inches inclinationat the foot to prevent too much elevation of the stops in front.Sheet-iron Nos. 24 to 26 is convenient material for the furnace. Torender it sufficiently firm under the weight of the evaporator, I applycross-pieces of heavy strap-iron. I apply'pieces of a similar materialfor handles, riveting them to the sides of the furnace, with their endsprojecting in. The handles which I apply to the foot of the furnace Mare bent at right angles similar to the stops, with their projectingends standing out from the sides of the furnace, leaving suflicient roomfor the racks 0, stops G, and springs L. To the inner surface of eachhandle M, I apply a spring, L, which extends along the handle, passingthrough the loop K of the spring, which is attached to the stop H, andcrossing it at right angles.

I construct my racks O by folding a strip of sheet-iron closely andturning its edges outward at right angles. Notches are then cut in theprojection resembling saw teeth. I then apply these racks across thesides of the furnace, corresponding with the stops on the fireplace. Iconstruct the bottom of my flue P of a material similar to that used forthe fire-place, and of a width which fits closely into the fire-place.This being bent into the proper shape extends from the grates to itsattachment at the foot of the furnace, being suspended on a movable ironrod, R, which passes through the same near the upper cor ner. Thus theline is not only movable with the furnace and evaporator, but itscapacity is readily changed by elevating or lowering the rod on which itis suspended. I now adjust my furnace upon the fire-place, allowing thelower edges of the furnace to rest down upon the shoulders of the stops.I then apply the bolts or rod, as above described. The

foot of the furnace is now designed to be con-.

siderably inclined. By elevating the foot of the furnace the teeth onthe racks will carry out the offset on the spring I at the top of thestop G, until the tooth rises above it, when it immediately springs intothe notch and becomes a resting-point for the furnace. The downwardmovement of the furnace is readily obtained by placing the thumb uponthe spring L and pressing it outward. Thus any desirable degree ofinclination of the furnace and evaporator can readily be obtained. Rapidevaporation and immediate removal from the action of heat is theprinciple by which we se cure the granulation of the sugar-cane juice.Therefore a shallow covering of. juice only is allowed to flow along thechannels of the evaporator to the point of escape into the cooler, andin order to keep the channel on all parts of the evaporator suppliedwith a proper quantity of juice as it evaporates and flows along, aready control over the inclination of the furnace and evaporator isnecessary.

I construct the channeled evaporator .in the well-known form by crimpingmetallic sheet into flanges or folds, and turning down or cutting downtheir alternate ends and applying wood or metallic heading, so as toform a continuous transverse channel. The heater is constructed of thesame material, and continuously attached to one end of the evaporator,being separated from it only by abroad flange.

As an improvement upon the usual mode of constructing the heater andevaporator, I cut down and remove a square piece of the broad flange,which separates the heater and evaporator, and apply a movable valve andstrainer, 1 2. I apply one or more fine strainers to the flanges of theevaporator.

In operation, the evaporator, is first filled with water, and the heateris filled with canejuice. As the juice in the heater approaches theboiling-point and is skimmed, the furnace is slightly inclined at thefoot, and the water in the channel recedes from the heater. The valve 1being slightly elevated, the heated juice flows through the strainer 2and takes possession of the channel. This being established,a steadystream of canejuice flows from a receiver into the heater, is heated andskimmed,while a steady stream flows through the strainer 2 to supply thechannel on the evaporator. The inclination of the furnace is adjusted inharmony with the intensity of the heat, so that the flowing juicebecomes sufficiently evaporated upon reaching the point of escape intothe cooler 3, when it may be set aside to cool and granulate. Thus theheating, skimming, and evaporating move simultaneously 011. \Vhen thework is done, water may be substituted for cane-juice.

- \Vhat I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is

1. The stationary yet portable firc-placeB, with its stops 0 O andsprings H.

2. The portable, movable, and inclined furnace A, and its combinationwith the stationary fire-place.

3. The handles M and their springs L, and their combination with thesprings H, also the rod F or its equivalent.

4. The racks O and their combination, also the movable flue or plate Pand its rod R, and their combinations, with the movable furnace A andstationary fire-place B.

5. I do not claim the heater 8 nor evaporator 10 as my invention; but Iclaim as an improvement the application of one or more strainers 2 andvalves 1 to the heater and evaporator.

LYM AN P. HARRIS.

\Vitn esses:

C. OLAPP, J. W. VVILKINSON.

